Method for preparing rolls for rolled step-joint bars



March 8 1927. 1,620,422

B. WOLHAUPTER METHOD FOR PREPARING ROLLS FOR ROLLED STEP JOINT BARSFiled June 22. 1925 3 Sheets-Sheet 1 a Mr/vessssx- Bevyanwn A attainingMarch 8, 1927. 1,s2o;422

B. WOLHAUPTER METHOD FOR PREPARING ROLLS FOR ROLLED STEP JOINT BARSFiled June 22 1925 I 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 f g? 14 R 29 I i 7 g'nwwtoz w NEWS4 ,Bew y'amin mlluuffiki; 2 e M I I 1,620,422 March 8 1927' B.WOLHAUPTER METHOD FOR PREPARING ROLLS FOR ROLLED STEP JOINT BARS FiledJune 22 1925 5 Sheets-Sheet 3 vew I 98 la ammmmigi val 4 4M Wm,

Patented Mar. 8, 1927.

UNITE STATES Farm oFFlcE.

BENJAMIN WOLHAU'BTER, 0F NEVI ROCHELLE, NEW YORK, ASSIGNOR TO THE RAILJOINT COMPANY, OE NEW YORK, N. Y., A COEIORATION OF NEW YORK.

METHOD FOR PREPARING ROLLS FOB BOL LED SEEP-JOINT BARS.

Application filed June 22, 1925.

This invention relates to the manufacture of compromise or step railjoints, and primarily has in View a novel roll construction permittingof rolling step joint bars in an economical and expeditious manner.

The dissimilarity of the outer and gageside bars of a step joint hasheretofore made it diflicult economically to manufacture such barsexcept by casting and forging operations, but the improvementscontemplated by the present invention make it entirely practicable tomanufacture these bars by a rolling mill process, whereby an economicaland proper distribution of metal may be effected while at the same timethe rolling process will facilitate the making of the different bars bythe same operation.

A further object of the invention is to provide a roll constructionwhich may be so coordinated with the ordinary passes of a rolling millthat the necessary offsetting and deflections of the joint bar may beprovided for and made in the final or finishing pass of the mill.

Another and important object of the invention is to provide a sectionalroll construction in which the different units can be interchanged andpaired in such a manner that the rolling of quite a variety ofstep-joint sections may economically be made.

With these and other objects in view which will appear to those familiarwith the art, as the nature of the invention is better understood, thesame consists in the novelconstruction, combination and arrangement ofparts hereinafter more fully described, illustrated and claimed; andthough susceptible of a wide range of modification without departingfrom the spirit of the invention a preferred and practical embodimentthereof is shown in the accompanying drawings, in which v Figure 1 is anelevation, partly in section, illustrating a. roll assembly for turningor cutting at one operation several roll halfsleeves for one section andsize of bar.

Figure 2 is a view similar to Fig. 1 showing a roll assembly for turningor cutting a number of roll half-sleeves for another section of bar.

Figure 3 is a detail sectional view showing the roll parts separated toillustrate the facility with which the half-sleeves may be removed andinterchanged.

Serial No. 38,815.

Figure t is a detail cross-sectional view on the line -l4 of Fig. 3.

Figure 5 is an elevation of a completed roll assembly made up inaccordance with the present invention for rolling step joint bars. I

Figure 6 is a detail sectional View showing'a modified roll constructionwith the parts opened up, to give an example of the scope of theinvention.

Figure 7 is a diagrammatic plan View of a continuous bar delivered fromthe roll pass formed by the rolls constructed in accordance with thepresent invention, and showing how this bar may be divided or out upinto step bars of rail joint length.

Figure 8 is a detail sectional view on the line 88 of Fig. 7.

Figure 9 is a sectional view on the line 9--9 of Fig. 7.

As above indicated the primary purpose of the invention is to provide anovel means of fabricating step joint bars by a rolling process asdistinguished from the rather complicated and expensive methodsnow invogue for making rail joint bars of that type. Furthermore, theinvention provides a construction available for effecting the necessaryoffsetting and deflections in a step bar at and in the final orfinishing pass of the rolling mill. Accordingly,the ultimate object inview is to provide a practical, simple and economical way for makingstep joint bars, the same fundamentally consisting of subjecting aformed bar to the action of a finishing rolling pass so designed as toproduce the predetermined offset or deflection in the bar, andsubsequently severing the deformed bar at the middle between 03- setsthereby providing in one operation the bars for opposite joints. Asimple example of the results to be obtained by this process is given inFigs. 7, 8 and 9 of the drawings showing for convenience and simplicityof illustration a primary form of splice bar.

The figures of the drawings referred to clearly illustrate thataccording to the present invention a bar blank designated generally bythe reference letter B is subjected to the action of the final finishingpass of a rolling mill so designed as to provide the bar with thenecessary offsets both Vertically and laterally, each portion of the barB between offsets being" of full rail joint length. It is of courseunderstood that the character and extent of the offsetting depends uponthe particular section of the rails to be united, and while in the caseof the gage-side bars only a vertical offsetting may be necessary,nevertheless, the bars for the outside of the joint usually aredeflected laterally as well as vertically in order not only to meet thedifferences in the fishing spaces of the different rails, but also torespond to the difference in the width of the rails. However, those arethe usual conditions which must be met with in the fabrication of a stepjoint bar and do not affect the present invention, the purpose of whichis to produce a continuous bar, alternately of different size or sectionas shown in Figs. 7, 8 and 9 of the drawings, and after such a bar hasbeen formed with the predetermined offsetting and deflection it isproposed to sever or cut the same at points midway between theoffsetting shoulders, indicated at Z), thereby producing the necessaryjoint lengths.

The ef'fect of cutting or severing the rolled bar midway between theshoulders or offsets is to produce stepped rail joint lengths betweenthe lines aa, making two step joint bars adapted respectively for use injoints at opposite sides of the track. Of course it will be understoodthat the gageside bars and the outside bars of the joint are made by thesame procedure, and the cutting or severing step may be carried out byany of the well known shearing instrumentalities usually employed in arolling mill for cutting the rolled bar into rail joint lengths.

This performance of the invention is made possible and practical by anovel roll construction which is utilized for the finishing pass of themill. This roll construction is developed in a novel manner as shown byFigs. 1, 2 and 3 of the drawings. In referring first to the details ofthis roll construction reference is made to Fig. 8 of the drawingswherein, as shown, each roll designated generally by the letter R is ofa sectional construction, the same consisting of a pair of roll sleevesections designated respectively a 3 adapted to be held tightly inmatching relation upon the roll shaft or arbor desig nated by thereference numeral 1.

Each roll section 8 is in effect a half-roll sleeve preferably held infirm interlocking engagement with the roll shaft 1 by means of a key 2fitted to the shaft and engaging in the keyway 3 at the inner-side ofthe roll sleeve, and in its outer periphery each roll section orhalf-sleeve 8 ha turned or cut therein a die groove e corresponding inshape and section to one side of one-half of the step joint bar to beformed in the final pass of the mill. The said die groove 4 in each rollsection or sleeve of course is in the same circular plane as the diegroove 4 in the roll section or sleeve matched therewith upon the sameroll shaft 1, and an important feature of the invention resides inhaving the roll sections or sleeves 8 independently removable andinterchangeable with other sections according to the combinationrequired in the making of any specified step joint bar, and in all formof the invention the two roll sections or sleeves s s which are keyed toor interlocked with a roll shaft are designed to be rigidly butremovably held in their assembled relation. That may be accomplished invarious ways. For instance, as shown in the group of Figs. 1, 2 and 3the roll sections may be provided at their sides with the projectingannular collars 5 fitting in the holding recesses 6 of clamping cuffs 7loosely mounted on the roll shaft 1 and adapted to be held in clampingand holding engagement against the sides of the assembled roll sectionsand over the collars 5 thereof by means of a lock nut 8 interiorlythreaded as at 9 to engage an exteriorly threaded section 10 on the rollshaft. In this assembly one of the recessed clamping cuffs 7 backs upagainst a fixed abut-- ment 11 while the opposite cuff 7 forms theabutment against which the nut 8 is tightened. Upon loosening of the nut8 the whole assembly may be opened up as clearly shown in Figs. 3 and 4and the roll sections or sleeves removed, replaced and interchanged asmay be required.

In the embodiment of the roll construction shown in Figs. 1, 2, 3 and 4:of the drawings, the similar matching roll sections or sleeves ss havestraightflat meeting faces throughout where the roll is bisected, butother forms of sectional roll construction may be utilized for carryingout the invention, for instance as suggested in Figure 6 of thedrawings. In this modification the roll is not divided entirelv in adirection longitudinally of the roll shaft or arbor, but may be of arabbeted or scarfed formation as indicated by the reference number 12,the rabbeted or scarfed portions 12 of the opposite sections 8 beingadapted to register in overlapping relation. This provides a strongsectional roll construction in which the collars and cuffs heretoforereferred to may be omitted, or used, as desired, the illustration inFig. 6 suggesting the possible omission of those details and simplyinvolv ing the lock nut 8 operating on the threaded section 10 of theroll shaft and locking directly against one of the roll sections whichin turn jams the other roll section against the fixed abutment 11 on theshaft.

The manner of preparing the upper and lower roll assemblies, for use inmaking step joint bars adapted to connect dissimilar rails is shown inFigs. 1, 2 and 5 of the drawings. In preparation for this assembly theroll sections, constructed as described, and as shown in detail in Fig.3, are carefully turned up for each section and weight of rail, makingtwo sets of roll sections or sleeves at each time. As an example Fig. 1shows the set up of upper and lower rolls for turning such rolls for onesection and weight of rail, for instance, a 7 5 lb. rail. \Vith such anassembly both the upper and lower rolls are turned for the one sectionand weight of rail so that the die grooves 4 in the upper roll forinstance form one side of the die pass 13 while the die grooves 4 in thelower sectional roll form the opposite side of the die pass 13 whichprovides the shape for that part of the bar fitting the said lb. rail.In this way four roll sections or sleeves are prepared at once, two forforming one side of the bar for the said lighter rail, and two forforming the other side of the bar for said lighter rail.

Likewise, the roll sections or sleeves are prepared for forming the barsection for the other rail of the step joint, as for example, for an lb.rail. That is illustrated in Fig. 2 where the assembly of the upper andlower rolls is made complete and said rolls turned for forming the diepass 14 to shape the bar for the said heavier rail. Also, in the sameoperation four roll sections or sleeves are made, two for forming oneside of the bar for the heavier rail and two for forming the other sideof the bar for the heavier rail.

Thus, in the examples given there have been prepared two sets of rollsections or sleeves for the finishing pass of the mill. one set ofcourse being used at a time, and the assembly for such set is shown inFig. 5 of the drawings.

Referring to Fig. 5 of the drawings, such figure shows the novel rollconstruction resulting from carrying out the invention along the linesabove described. As illustrated in that figure of the drawings it willbe seen that the upper and lower roll assembly is a combination of theroll sect-ions or sleeves for rolling a bar having the structuralcharacteristics heretofore described and adapted to be severed at themiddle of each offset length in order to make the step joint bars. Inthe example described, namely, in making bars for connecting a given 7 5lb. rail with a given 85 lb. rail, the upper roll for instance is madeup by matching two dissimilar roll sections or sleeves, that is, onesection or sleeve having the the groove 4L for the section for the 7 5lb. rail and one roll section or sleeve having the die groove 4 for thebar section for the 85 lb. rail, the upper roll being shown as adaptedto shape the offset for the outerside of the joint bar and the lowerroll being shown as adapted to shape the offset for the inner side ofthe joint bar.

Thus, with each complete revolution of a pair of rolls, having theassembly shown in Fig, 5, there is delivered a continuous bar ofalternately different size (and; section when required) with the offsetsand deflections occurring at equal distances from each other so that itis only necessary to bisect the bar midway between the offsets toproduce step bars of rail joint length as hereinbefore fully pointedout, thereby providing for the rapid and economical manufacture of stepjoint bars.

It will of course be understood that the above description only givesone example of one combination that may be used in carrying out theinvention, but it is to be understood that the invention is susceptibleof forming matching roll sections or sleeves for any combination desiredaccording to the particular sizes and sections of the dissimilar railsto be joined by the step joint bars, and the same method of procedure isfol lowed for making the gage-side bars as well as the outside bars ofthe joint. Accordingly, it will be understood that the particular rollmade up for any one rail section can be combined with a roll for anyother rail section. For example, the roll for the 7 5 lb. section whichhas been referred to as combined with an 85 lb. section could also beused with any other section, such for instance as for a 75 lb. or a lb.section. Likewise the roll for the 85 lb. section could be used in anycombination desired or required.

Also it will be understood that minor changes in the form, proportionand details of the various parts of the roll construction may beresorted to without departing from the spirit or sacrificing any of theadvan tages of the invention.

1 claim 1. A method of preparing rolls for rolling step joint bars whichconsists first in turning the die grooves in roll sections for onesection and size of joint bar, separately turning die grooves in otherroll sections for another sect-ion and size of joint bar, andsubsequently assembling and mating dissimilar roll sections on the upperand lower roll shafts of the mill, thereby to provide each roll with diegrooves of substantially the same shape but of different dimension withoffsets at the points of intersection of the two grooves.

2. A method of preparing rolls for rolling step joint bars whichconsists first in turning roll sections for one section and size ofjoint bar, separately turning other roll sections for another sectionand size of joint bar, said other roll sections having a differentradius from the radius of said first mentioned roll sections, andsubsequently assembling 'dis similar roll sections on both the upper andlower roll shafts of the mill with each roll section on one shaft matinga corresponding roll section on the opposite shaft to form a die passbetween them.

3. A method of preparing rolls for rolling step joint bars whichconsists first in turning roll sections for one section and size ofjoint bar, separately turning other roll sections for another sectionand size of joint bar, said other roll sections having a differentradius from the radius of said first mentioned roll sections, andsubsequently assembling dissimilar roll sections on both the upper andlower roll shafts of the mill with each roll section on one shaft matinga corresponding roll section on the opposite shaft to form a die passbetween them, the pair of dissimilar roll sections on each roll shaftbeing ar- BENJAJHN WOLI-IAUPTER.

